Another Crisis, Altered World
by BloodBoredom
Summary: When one event changes, a butterfly effect is formed, rather everything changes.  What would have happened if Cloud wasn't such a vegetable in the end. Zack/Cissnei
1. Chapter 1

This is a retelling of the events around the end of Crisis Core and some part of FF7.  
Being an avid fan of the series and loving the storyline of CC, I felt frustrated with the end.  
Zack/Cissnei, not really a fan of this pairing but it's part of the storyline so please bear with me guys.  
Zack POV

_"Cloud is still unconscious, or rather in a coma as Shinra troops are surrounding us from all sides," _the First Class Soldier analyzed the situation

_The sound of more than a thousand pairs of feet can be heard. And, they opened fire on the escapees. After hiding him in a ditch, Zack begins fighting wave after wave of grunts, however each blow is becoming heavier than the last. Suddenly, one of the troops sneaks through Zack's line of defense and approaches the unconscious blonde, his rifle aimed at the boy's Mako blue eyes._

_The sound of rotors roar as the Turks aboard the heavily armed war machine glare at the massive army below them, eying the situation with great focus_

_Then, something unexpected happens..._

_Cloud Strife is seen standing in front of a now prone and bloodied soldier with the dying man's gun in his bloodstained hands. The man stares dazed and confused at Cloud's impassive face then expires silently. Cloud looks towards Zack and starts heading for his friend while shooting down incoming grunts._

"You picked the best possible time to wake up sleepy head," Zack said with concern and joy, "I was starting to get tired"

"How long?" the stoic blonde asked with sadness permeating in his voice, "How long has it been since we were caught up in all this?"

"Four, four years..." says Zack, the smile escaping his face, a frown taking its place

_The two mako-enhanced beings continued their two-man war against the army sent to step them, Zack's Buster Sword scratched and Cloud's gun out of ammo. Cloud rolls to the side and grabs a shortsword from a nearby corpse and rushes to aid his friend. Zack, exhausted, lays his sword down and fights his way out with his bare albeit genetically modified hands. He falls down once as mortar explodes inches away from his face. He falls a second time after being struck with a Thunder spell that was followed by a few lobbed grenades. And the raven haired man eyes another faceless grunt, armed with a sword approaching him for a coup de grace. The man prepares to slash Zack across his chest, intent on bleeding the escaped experiment dry. The wind preceding the blow aimed at his chest was rustling. And the blow that would have killed him, stops an inch away. A familiar blonde stood behind the woul-be killer with a sword in hand, drawing it back from its temporary sheath._

_Machine gun fire resounded in the how air, but surprisingly, it was downing the opposing army and neither Zack nor Cloud were caught in the attack. The duo realized in a single moment, the Turks had just arrived._ A fiery redhead_ jumped down twelve feet and swiftly made her way to Zack Fair, a Cure materia in her hand. Tseng was preoccupied, barking orders at the pilots and gunners. Rude and Reno __hastily followed after the desperate girl, covering her from surrounding troops with great success in that regard._

_The army was in total disarray, the few smart grunts left, running away from the scene as if they were just bystanders being shooed away. The Turks_  
_securing the perimeter and treating the injuries of the two, now ex-SOLDIERS._

"How did you-" Zack gasped for air as it escaped his lungs.

"Easy now," the girl propped up the weary man, "Tseng got a chopper after pulling some strings".

_The silhouette of a lone soldier escaped their sights and reached for its pocket, retrieving a small package with a timer attached._

"I can't go back, not after this, there's nothing left for me back the-" the desperate soldier paused and grasped his chest. There was nothing but  
the air moving through. From the chopper, faint traces of smoke escaping from the interior, a fair young man dressed in white.

"I am Rufus Shinra, the Vice President of Shinra, and I have a job for you." the man in white announced.

_-Minutes Later-_

_Zack Fair couldn't believe it, his life was saved by the son of the man who tried to silence him forever, the son of his ex-boss. Cloud was brooding by the window of the temporary encampment,wondering how time could have flown by so quickly. Rude and Reno were taking shifts at standing guard,complaining that the other was sleeping. Tseng was running maintenance on the chopper which took a bad hit in one of the rotors and was preparing a formal document stating that Zack and Cloud perished in the massive battle and their cadavers were beyond recognition, this was an obvious lie, but with the entire army Shinra sent dead, no one would ever know. Cissnei was worried about Zack, but knew he was thinking of Aerith,the girl who sent him letters everyday._

"How...How is she?" Zack whispered to the wind.

"She's fine." Tseng blurted unexpectedly.

"When your all better we'll take you to her, so don't worry," Cissnei said with a fake smile.

_With that last sentence, Zack let his eyes close, still afraid that more years would pass as the darkness encroached his vision. Cloud shifted his view to the sky, the stars still in the cold dark night and wondering if he found Tifa, if he told her the truth, if she would forgive him for his part in the Nibelheim disaster and laid his worried head to rest on the stone pillar he was leaning on, the only thing at the moment that seemed stable in his life._

"About my proposition," Rufus said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that, uh, what do you want me to do?" Zack questioned the young man.

"It's more about what I don't want you BOTH to do..." Rufus replied.

"Both?" Zack glared at the V.P.

Cloud's attention was taken in by the word Rufus had emphasized.

"Yes, I don't want you two jumping back in the game just yet." Rufus pleaded with the two.

"Jumping back? We don't have any plans of..." Zack spouted, shocked at the idea.

"Yet?" Cloud questioned, picking through the V.P.'s words.

"I'll explain later," the man in white looked up, "our transport has arrived"

_An airship descended from the cloudy sky, quickly sporting its weapons systems and destroying the chopper with a single launched missile._

"What the hell!" Zack stunned at the "friendly gesture".

"Don't worry. We aren't connected with that ship in any official capacity." Tseng said, half-pissed that he spent the last six hours trying to fix the chopper.

"Sorry about the ship though, you know how little I can tell you." Rufus apologetically mumbled to the stoic Turk.

"So that thing is an enemy of Shinra?" Cloud wondered.

"Yeah, the owner was a former member of the Shinra space program who went AWOL when the mission was cancelled." Cissnei answered Cloud's question, "*cough* more like FUBAR."

"So...He hates Shinra and has a giant flying battleship...Is anyone else thinking this is a bad idea!" Cloud questioned with irony and panic.

"Uh, I think spike head here is right." Reno said looking at the wreckage of the chopper.

_The airship lands smoothly and opens up at its side, revealing a human visage with a spear and a lit cigar. Rude was looking at Reno and Cloud still fixated on the ship's cannons._

"Well she's a beaut' don'cha think?" the stranger said breaking the silence.

"So can it really fly and land anywhere?" Zack wondered with his trademark puppy dog expression.

"It can do the flying part no problem, but it can't land ANYwhere." The stranger said proudly.

A silence stole the moment as most of the party were still in awe at the majestic ship, the Highwind.

"What the goddamn hell are y'all waitin' fer, get in now!" The stranger swore violently till his face was hotter than his cigar.

"Why are we hurrying again?" Reno groaned, tired of moving around.

"We don't wanna be seen, remember dumbass!" Cissnei growled, irritated at the naive Turk.

"Woah, slow down Ciss..." Zack said trying to defuse the situation

And Cissnei stopped where she stood and turned red like a tomato, _"Did he just call me Ciss?"_, her heart was pounding, pondering and longing. Then the pilot brought them to the bridge and introduced himself.

"Name's Cid, and in any case I hate yer freakin' company." The pilot shocked the party of Turks and ex-SOLDIERS.

"So why help us?" Cloud asked loudly.

"I think he's being paid...A lot!" Zack commented slyly.

"No, we aren't paying Mr. Cid for his services." Rufus rebuked Zack's idea.

"Hmm...So the company money wouldn't be traced to a known 'terrorist' huh." Zack pondered before being hit square in the jaw with a crate.

"Who ya callin' a terrorist!" Cid roared.

"However, that's how its gonna go down" Reno yawned.

"We're his 'hostages'" Rude said with a straight face.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hostages?" Cloud was baffled.

"Yer gonna shut up and do as I say since we want nothing to do with each-" Cid said while lighting another cigarette.

"Um...Cid?" a girl interrupted his speech.

"What i it Shera?" Cid yelled at the poor assistant.

"Flares," she replied.

_Then in an instant, the group was blinded by a barrage of flares. These were followed by a horizon filled with nothing but Shinra choppers and air support._

"Let's go!" Cloud said, grabbing his rifle and prepared to fight on the bridge.

"We can't," Reno said, pissed off.

"What!?" Cloud yelled at the lazy Turk, "They're out there trying to kill us!"

"We can't be seen, remember?" Rude spat out, clenching his fist, clearly agreeing with Strife's chain of thought.

"Both of us should be enough Cloud," Zack smiled at his friend.

"Nah, you two idiots dunno how to fight in an airship, at least not alone," Cid grinned, preparing his spear.

"I'll take you to the deck," he said overtaking the ex-SOLDIER and infantryman, "try not to fall off."

_The deck was wrecked by the flares and continuous machine gun fire. Cloud used his rifle to snipe chopper pilots one by one, not a problem for his Mako-enhanced eyes. Other ships however, were able to fire anchors that allowed infantry to make it to the ship. Zack and Cid were outnumbered 10 to 1 while Cloud tried to destroy the anchors. Zack cut a 3rd class soldier's arm with a single hit._

"Damn,"the ex-SOLDIER said, reminiscing about the days when the lower ranked SOLDIERS looked up to him.

"What's wrong Mr. Hero?" Cid spouted sarcastically, "It's kill or be killed and I ain't betting on tha second one."

_Cloud's gun was fresh out of bullets so he grasped his sword and joined the melee._

"Hyaa!" Cloud yelled at his first target, bifurcating the poor SOLDIER by the waist.

"Raa!" Zack roared, knocking down two enemies and a drone.

"Well that's more like it!" Cid said as he pierced through three grunts, "You SOLDIER boys ain't half bad"

_The field was quickly emptied and only the three warriors remained, barely injured._

"Now let's get back in so I can get rid of ya!" Cid calmly told the pair.

"Wait,what?" Zack did a double take on the last statement.

"I'm serious, d'ya know how hard it was to steal this ship back and how much harder it is to fix it up!" the scruffy man replied Zack.

"But,I ain't gonna throw you overboard, I'm getting paid first!"with his face lightening up.

"Is it all about the money for you?" Cloud broke his silence.

"Nah,but I need the cash to fund my dream, to reach the ocean of stars!" Cid said with a hint of pride.

_Back in the bridge, the heroes were discussing the next course of action._

_They discovered the presidents plan to destroy the ship, to prove to Cid's allies in the terrorist organization AVALANCHE that he won't negotiate with them, that he can crush them easily,._

"Mr. Strife," Rufus called Cloud.

"Hmm?" Cloud was surprised that the V.P. was looking for him.

"I saw your shooting today, impressive." Rufus complimented his performance.

"Thanks, um, I guess" Cloud said embarassed.

"I want you to join my secret project, with an armor powered by Mako, only people like you or Zack could utilize properly" Rufus told the spiky-headed youth.

"Why me and not Zack?" Cloud questioned Rufus' choice.

"He has another role to play in this," the V.P. quietly replied "I'm deploying him elsewhere."

"By the way, it's called Project: Ironheart." Rufus continued with more mystique in his voice.

"Mr. Shinra sir, where exactly am I going?" Cloud asked politely, knowing the man in front of him had a reputation.

"You, Mr, Strife are going to DEEPGROUND, a facility run by the Restrictors, the Lost Force of SOLDIER," he calmly replied.

"But, I heard they vanished," Cloud said surprised.

"Yes, because we sent them there, now Elena and Rude will Escort you there while I make plans with the others," he ordered of the Spike-headed hero, "try not to pick fights while you're down there."

"Ok, should I be looking out for anything in particular?" Cloud asked the V.P.

"There are four "special" individuals there, be wary of them Mr. Strife," Rufus warned him.

_One flight and secret underground entrance later..._

"Welcome to DEEPGROUND, I am the Restrictor," the masked man greeted them.

"Restrictor? I thought there were more of you?" Cloud questioned poignantly.

"I am the last one left, the others have gone back to the lifestream." he said with sorrow and bitter regret.

"Sorry to hear about that." Cloud apologized.

"It's alright, it goes to show how important it is for us SOLDIERS to be prepared." he said returning to the cold, monotony of his voice, "they died because they weren't enough."

"Cloud, Rude and I will be going, we have received new orders." Elena said, and with Rude, bade farewell to Cloud, "we aren't permitted to enter either way."

_In the depths of DEEPGROUND..._

"I hear you're a facility for a new breed of SOLDIERS," Cloud struck a conversation with the Restrictor.

"Yes, though some have called our methods harsh, the results speak for themselves." he replied, "in fact, I would say that one of ours is equal to at least five of your surface SOLDIERs."

_A mechanical door opens._

"I'm aware you too are a SOLDIER Mr. Strife, care to see the results of our training here at DEEPGROUND?" he invited Cloud.

"I'm no SOLDIER, just a guy who got caught in some stuff he had no business in," Cloud said sadly.

"Then why are you here?" he asked, surprised at Cloud's background.

"I have a debt to Shinra that I'm paying back," Cloud told the Restrictor, "I was sent to check on the Ironheart Project."

"Sadly, the researchers handling that died a few months ago," the imposing figure sighed, "Ironheart has been quiet since then."

"Alright. Everyone, we have a guest, he will be testing how far you've come along, your only defeat would be death." he comanded harshly at the DEEPGROUND troops.

_Three DG troops moved up front with two DG beasts escorting and one Heavy armored, rocket launcher wielding soldier in the rear._

"Ready Mr. Strife?" he chuckled, sure that Cloud would fall in battle.

"Yeah," was the blonde's reply, "let's get this over with"

"Begin!" the Restrictor commanded.

_Cloud rushed the beast at the left and punched it square in the jaw, the poor creature fell straight to the floor. The rocket trooper fired a round, but barely missed Cloud's head and killing the beast. Cloud grabbed his sword and made short work of the three regular troops, cutting them into numerous pieces. The other beast lunged at him, but fell short and was knocked over to the heavy trooper. Dazed, the soldier could not realize that Cloud took his rocket and blasted the beast to kingdom come. Cloud, finished the exercise by firing the last round of the cannon at point blank range,_  
_leaving only the poor soldiers ankles still standing on the ground._

"It's over." Cloud panted, realizing he was grazed by the first rocket, "Didn't see that one coming."

"He seems fun," an enormous blue-haired man said in the background.

"Down Azul, your not gonna get to play with this guy, Rosso!" the Restrictor yelled as what appeared to be a crimson blur descended to the arena, "Get down there!"

_Cloud grabbed his short sword and placed it in its sheath on his back. _

"Who are you?" the infantryman asked the new arrival.

"I am Rosso, Rosso the Crimson, a Tsviet and your new opponent," she answered confidently.

_Cloud set his sword aside and sat down._

"Alright, but I warn you..." he stopped grabbing a potion from his pocket and drinking it, "I won't hold back".

"Neither will I," the lady in red replied.

_Cloud swiftly grabbed his sword and with a burst of speed, immediately clashed with Rosso's twin blades._

"Your good if you blocked my sword, only one other has done such in the past," she said calmly.

_Both disengaged at that same moment and rolled backwards to the far edges of the arena in order to recover._

"It seems you are not looking well Mr. Strife" she giggled, pointing at Cloud's torn sleeve.

"It's Cloud and neither do you," Cloud replied pointingat a fresh wound on the red Tsviet's arm.

"Interesting," were the only words to escape her mouth as she licked her wounds.

"..." the blonde held his sword defensively as he studied his opponent.

"It has been long since this Tsviet has bled," she admitted.

_Both were poised to wreak havoc in the arena._

"Enough! Mr. Strife you are clearly a worthy fighter even though you say you aren't a SOLDIER," the Restrictor commended the young hero.

"All surviving combatants leave the arena..." a synthetic voice announced.

_Cloud prepares to leave DG when Rosso suddenly approaches..._

"Where are you going Mr. Strife?" feeling uncomfortable with a new name passing her tongue so casually.

"I'm leaving, the prototype I was sent to check on has been scrapped" he explains to the Tsviet.

"You can leave freely?" the redhead spoke, amazed.

"Yes, why?" the blonde answered, curious at her response.

"The SOLDIERS here cannot leave freely...alive anyway, many have longed to see the skies of the world above," Rosso claims with disgust.

*Ring*

_Cloud grabs his phone to read the new message and is shocked as the words finished loading._

From: Rufus V.P.

Message:

Cloud, dispose of the Restrictor and acquire DEEPGROUND for our plans. Recruit any DG SOLDIERS willing to cooperate, they will be rewarded. Standby for further instructions. A package will arrive momentarily, keep its contents secret, this is an order.

"It looks like I'll be staying longer then," he tells the Tsviet.

_Rosso could only smile as she makes her way to her fellow Tsviets._

"These people," Cloud Strife mused, "they're just like Zack and myself..."

_-End-_


End file.
